84 200es Intermittent spark

[Arkansas501]

So I’ve always wanted a 3 wheeler so Saturday I made a impulse trade for a beat up big red and right from the get go when the guy pulled up he broke the rope so after about 15 minutes of pulling we were able to get it started with a f250 and a chain and we eventually made a deal even though it wouldn’t idle. now I went out the past few days to test comp and check a few other things and it seems like I’m only getting spark sometimes but when I pull it with my truck and hold the throttle open she will run at the speed that it is moving but as soon as I stop it stops is the a CDI issue or something else?

[ps2fixer]

When it has no spark, do the service manual tests for the exciter coil and ignition coil. Also test or disconnect the ignition switch and kill switch (open connection = run). CDI's are getting way past their expected life which is around 20 years for the capacitors inside it which is the primary part that makes it work efficiently.

Another test you could do is when it has no spark, disconnect the CDI and smack it on a hard surface a few times and see if it changes anything, careful not to move the wiring and such besides the CDI area so you can isolate where the issue is at. If you have any friends with an 84-85 era Honda, let me know what model and the CDI might be the right pin out to do the swap test.

If the wiring is toast on it, that would be another area of concern, a lot of machines have bad wiring, might work for now, but just the right bumps etc could break a wire. I haven't expanded to cover the 200es model yet for new harnesses, in time I suspect I'll tool up for it. The 84-85 CDI connector (round 6 pin) is a hard to find connector for reproduction, so if I did make one, it would be the much more common 4+2 style CDI connectors. Besides that, I think the rest of the harness I can get the connectors for.

Also, the 84 200es has an inhibitor switch, but that effects electric start only, if it doesn't crank when it should, that's a likely target. The CDI has a safety sensor on the reverse switch, so as long as that wire isn't grounding it should have spark.

Do you have a battery of some sort hooked up to the 200es? Good (heavy duty) jumper cables to a car/truck battery would work fine, just make sure the leads can't short out or short out on the frame, or get the correct battery for it. The battery isn't required to make the machine run, but it's so much easier to crank it than pull start it.

When tug starting or pulling the machine with something else, it kind of feels like it's running, but it's not really unless it takes off and speeds up. Just the nature of pulling it that way. You could turn the ignition switch on/off to see if there's any change, but I assume not. Wide open throttle is just easier to pull than closed throttle and you probably hear the intake side a bit.

Anyway, I'd get a battery in it and make sure all the electronics are working as expected, lights, electric start, etc and go though the service manual on the individual part tests to see if anything tests bad. The CDI can't really be accurately tested if it's good or not, generally it's blamed if everything else is good, or swapped with a known good unit.

You can get the Honda service manual free from the link below. Section you want should start on page 223. You'll need a multi meter for the tests, even a cheap $10 one from ebay should work fine, more expensive ones are generally more accurate and have extra features.

http://www.oscarmayer.net/atc/manuals/

Good luck and let us know what you figure out.

[Arkansas501]

Ok so I grabbed my meter from work and the cdi tested bad on quiet a few of the test so I’ve looked online and would this aftermarket cdi work?
Replacement CDI Box for Honda TRX125 1985 / ATC200ES 1984 / TRX200 1984 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F25 2649727864

[deejaycee_2000]

The chinese aftermarket ones work well yes, but buy a few, they don't last as long as the OEM ones.

[ps2fixer]

The chinese aftermarket ones work well yes, but buy a few, they don't last as long as the OEM ones.

The chinese CDI's I've bought are a bit hit and miss. Basically avoid any that claims to be a racing CDI or any marketing terms like that. The stock unit either has no advancement, or very little. The chinese 6 pin CDI with the teal connector *should* work pretty well, it has no advancement circuitry inside if it's the same ones I have. The problem with chinese parts is the lack of details and unreliable part numbers. Also the chinese parts change design and keep the same part numbers time to time, gotten burned on a few orders because of that crap even ordering from the same company.

[Arkansas501]

Well one dilemma to the next got the cdi in and plugged it up and guess what nothing so I was scratching my head and decided to pull the rotor cover off and discovers broken pieces of metal and I got no clue what I’m doing when it comes to rotors and gaps�� anyone got any input where to go from here?

[Arkansas501]

258559258559258559258559 here is the pieces of metal

[ps2fixer]

Not sure what that is,what's the rotor look like? There should be a couple springs pulling in a couple of weights, if you turn it one direction the weights should push outward. The whole movement should be pretty free besides the resistance with the springs. The actual pulse generator, is the black box part that's held on by a couple of screws. I haven't R & D'ed enough for the 200 models to see if there's a suitable newer model to steal that part from or not for the older engines. There's also the main rotor that the pulse generator inerfaces with, I think there's a metal flat (steel) somewhere on the face, you'd turn the engine till that lines up with the pulse generator, and use feeler gauges (cheap at the par ts store) to see what the gap is set at. The spec is in the service manual, and probably some photos and such.

If the springs are trashed, here is my listing for the right replacement springs from a newer model of Honda that uses the same design of engine.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/201737940132

FYI, on the image upload thing, you don't have to click the insert inline thing, just upload it, and wait for it to show up in the bottom of the popup window, after it's there, just close it and it will show up in the bottom of the thread. The insert inline is to insert the photo in an exact location in the post, so clicking it more than once makes it show up all over. Still works, just figured I'd explain what's going on there. That button is labeled pretty poorly.